Al Qaeda's Chief Of Global Operations, Wanted By US Authorities, Killed In Pakistan

Pakistani soldiers stand near the debris of a house which was destroyed during a military operation against Taliban militants in the town of Miranshah in North Waziristan July 9, 2014. A senior al Qaeda operative, indicted by American authorities for his role in plotting terror attacks in the U.S. and the U.K. in 2009, was killed by the Pakistani military on Saturday, Dec. 6. Photo: Reuters/Maqsood Mehdi

A senior al Qaeda operative, indicted by American authorities for his role in plotting terror attacks in the U.S. and the U.K. in 2009, was killed by the Pakistani military on Saturday. Adnan Shukrijumah, believed to be al Qaeda’s chief of global operations, was killed during a raid in the country’s northwest Waziristan region early Saturday, according to media reports.

“The al Qaeda leader, who was killed by the Pakistan army in a successful operation, is the same person who had been indicted in the United States,” a senior Pakistani army official reportedly said. “His accomplice and local facilitator were also killed in the raid.”

According to the FBI, which has listed Shukrijumah as a “most wanted terrorist,” the slain militant was born in Saudi Arabia and lived for several years in the U.S., where he was later named as a conspirator in a plot to attack New York’s subway system in 2009. He was also believed to have been involved in plotting attacks in Norway and the U.K., according to media reports.

The raids by the Pakistani army, during which one soldier was also reportedly killed, were carried out as a part of the operation Zarb-e-Azb, launched by the Pakistani military in June in response to growing militancy in the North Waziristan region.

North Waziristan, a tribal-dominated area, is a key militant stronghold in Pakistan. Almost all of the major attacks carried out in Pakistan and Afghanistan in recent years have been traced to groups based in this region.